Rain
by Shadow of Arashi
Summary: Talpa had taken over the human world with his warlords. But five young boys with nothing in common but for their holy armors have decided to fight for their freedom, and their future… A darker look into what could be... yaoi and dark theme.
1. Default Chapter

Author's notes : Just to warn you, this is a rather depressing story, which suddenly grew out of my control. Can you tell I love angst ? *sighs* Oh this is an AU too. In this world Talpa took over the human world and his warlords are making sure nobody disobey the emperor. But five young boys with nothing in common, not even supposed to be together but for their holy armors have decided to fight for their freedom, and their future… A darker look into what could be… but mostly Sage-centric.

Warning : Yaoi, straight, dark themes, yaoi lemon not very graphic (my favorite pairing, if you know me you will know what to expect ^_~) and lot of angst. Not a happy story indeed ! ^^;;; And since I really don't know what this story is worth, I would really appreciate it if you could give me your opinion, be it by review or e-mail. Thank you. 

Disclaimer : I don't own the ronins, Sunrise do so don't sue me please. Any flames against yaoi will be use to burn all my old school books. ^_^

Rain

By Shadow of Arashi 

"What a day, it's still raining…"

Mia sighed as she dropped the curtains. Ryo just walked over to her and hugged her. She smiled slightly and twisted in his embrace, kissing him lightly on the lips. Ryo smiled back and let her go as he heard his friends coming. 

Mia took a step away from him and smooths her hair, an amused smile on her lips this time. Ryo smiled sheepishly at his girlfriend.

Turning his head, he saw Kento entering the house, two huge bags in his powerful arms. The boy rested the bags on the lounge table and ran a hand through his unruly dark locks, looking tired. He must have work himself too hard again on training Ryo thought. 

Cye was next. The more slender boy walked calmly in that almost soothing way that was his own and nodded at Ryo before disappearing into the mansion's kitchen with the bags previously carried by Kento. 

A minute later Rowen and Sage entered the room. The blue hair teenager was smirking and disappeared into the kitchen as well, more than likely to tease his little lover after giving to the two others people in the room a grin. 

Sage just sat on a chair near the window and stared through it at the dark city outside, silent as usual, locks of blonde hair hiding his eyes from view, so that nobody could tell what he was thinking.

Ryo sighed and glanced at Mia. She simply shook her head. Ryo looked at Sage again and almost sigh again. Sure he had always knew that their little group was very unlikely to be in the first place but still, sometimes he wondered if all of this was really worth it. When he looked at it this way, he always felt depressed, but it was the true. 

They were fighting from the freedom of their world but they have so many troubles on their own already… And sometimes they didn't even seem to be able to communicate with each others because of their differences…

Ryo shook his head to clear it and decided to see what Cye was making for dinner. Stepping into the kitchen, he saw the auburn hair boy already at work, his mate on a chair watching him silently with half lidded eyes. 

They looked happy, one would say normal. But Ryo knew better. Their situation was anything but normal, but at least Cye and Rowen have each other, just like him and Mia. While in the meantime Sage had locked himself in a prison of ice where nobody could reach him, and that even before they had met him… 

But at least they were still a team right ?

But, then again Sage wasn't the only one with problems. They all have their own demons Ryo realized. And what scared him was that he didn't know if they could overcome it all in order to success in their mission. 

He himself didn't have too much trouble dealing with it, he had Mia with him to help him and he didn't felt quite so sad about his parent's death now. 

But his girlfriend on the other hand, had lost her grandfather when Talpa had took over their world, making a deep wound into her heart and pushing her into a suicidal rebellion. He had just followed her. 

He knew she wanted revenge and when he discovered he had one of the lost armors, the armor of Wildfire, it had only seem natural to do what she said and fight against the Dynasty… for her…

Then there was Cye and Rowen. The young boys had join the group together when they discovered they have two of the lost armors, Torrent and Strata, and more than once Ryo had thought that the only reason they were fighting at all was to have a peaceful future together. 

To be able to sleep without fearing what tomorrow may bring. They fight and guard each others back, not really caring about anything else in battle. They were comforting each other afterward and they actually seem to believe in their fight, for so far nothing had managed to break their hope. 

And for that Ryo was grateful. 

Kento was another matter. He was working harder than any of them, but for Sage maybe. The muscular boy was putting all of himself onto their mission, hoping to save his family from slavery. When Talpa started ruling their world, half of the population was killed while a massive part of the survivors were captured to be servants for the dark king and his warlords. 

By luck, if it can be called luck, Kento's family was in the second case. Now the foreign boy was doing his very best to free them, clutching to the hope that they were alive and wealthy. He had started fighting alone with the people that were still freed and had hide themselves in this dark city, then found out he had an armor as well, Hardrock, and joined them.

And then there was Sage, the last to have joined them. Ryo suspected him to be there only because of his armor, Halo. The boy was always emotionless, or at least seems emotionless, and most of the time never speaks unless spoken to. It was like he was lost in his own world, never really there, like an empty shell. And sometimes it was truly frightening. 

He could be lost in his thoughts and spazzing off for a whole day with glassy eyes at the rain outside. He always looked sad and depressed in fact. But when he was in battle he just changed dramatically and was a true devil then. 

Oh he wasn't much more talkative, but he fights like a demon. Honestly, of all of them he was surely the best fighter among them with himself. They never did managed to made him speak about his past though. They only know his name and his age. That wasn't much from someone you are supposed to trust with your life on a battlefield…

_/We are one hell of a fuck up team aren't we ?/ Ryo thought to himself. _/And we are supposed to save the world…/__

"Food is ready !"

Cye called from the kitchen. Ryo was startled for a second then sit down on a chair, waiting for Cye to serve them dinner. Kento arrived soon enough and then Sage, as silent as ever, with Mia. 

They eat in silent, sometimes making small meaningless comments. When they were over, Cye made the dishes while the others left to do whatever they have to do.

Ryo simply left after Mia, hoping to spend some free time with her. He knew very well that he could be dead the next day and so he had learned to enjoy each passing moments of his life very quickly. 

His girlfriend was in the living room, watching the rain like Sage had not so long ago. He came to stand beside her and looked at her. She looked worried.

"Mia ? What's wrong ?"

He said gently. He saw her shivering slightly and the next moment she was in his arms, crying softly. 

"I'm so scared Ryo… I'm scared of what will happen to me, to you, to us… Talpa is looking for us everywhere, he may very well destroy this city tomorrow if he feels like it ! We humans have been lucky that he let us hide in those cities, because he knows most of us are no threat to him. But Ryo, he also knows about you and the others and about your armors… He already has sent his most vicious fighters after you to get those armors back and kill you… And it's all my fault… Maybe I shouldn't have force you into this suicidal fight. Maybe we could have had a normal life then…"

"Don't say that Mia. You know that since we all got our armors we didn't have a choice but fight. It's our fate, and our choice. We can't possibly let this monster destroy our world any longer. Too many people have died and suffered because of him, and since we have found armors from his world with power to help us, we can't give up our only chance."

"But did you see what he did ? He appeared into our world only five years ago, and now our world is covered with darkness and death… people are scared to get out of their house, children are growing up in an atmosphere of decay ! The sky is no longer blue and the rain never stops.What can we do ? Ryo…"

"Hope. That the only thing we have left. But it's our strongest force. Never forget it Mia."

"Ryo…"

Mia whispered. Ryo hold her and murmured soothing words in her ears. After all, he was right. They could only hope…

****

Upstairs Sage could feel Mia's inner turmoil and he closed his eyes in an attempt to shut it out. He was already feeling everybody's pain in this house and his own, he didn't need any more angst now. He let out a sigh and shook his head. 

The others didn't knew about his mental abilities which have came along with his armor, and he was having a hard time trying to keep it under control. 

This has result in him being almost totally emotionless. Having to deal with all those hurt, he didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or breaking down… And there was also those flashback, which didn't help at all…

Sage shuddered as the unwanted memories came back and pushed them away. Now wasn't the time for this. He had promised himself to live long enough to have his revenge when he got his armor, he wasn't going to break down now.

Sage got up and left his room. He saw Ryo and Mia downstairs and as he head toward the door, Ryo called him.

"Hey Sage, where are you going ?"

"Outside."

"Oh. Be careful then, the warlords may be looking for us today. We gave them a good beating last time but still."

"I know."

Sage said as he closed the door behind him. Ryo watched him leave then turned his attention back on his girlfriend. 

****

_In the nether realm…___

Cale stared at the human city outside when suddenly he heard his master calling. /_Damn, he doesn't sound happy./ He thought with a groan. Not wanting to made his master wait, Cale teleported into the throne room only to see that Dais, Anubis and Sekhmet were there as well. _

Anubis threw him a murderous glare but Cale dismissed it to concentrate on his master. Talpa was watching them, his eyes blazing red, proof that he was seriously displeased. The warlords quickly bowed and kneeled.

"I can't believe that you still haven't get rid of those ronins after all this time ! I'm fairly disappointed my warlords."

Talpa's voice echo into the throne room eerily. The four warlords cringed at the displeasure in their master's voice, knowing what would happen next.

"You deserve to be punish, and next time I won't accept failure !"

Talpa said, nether spirits appearing next to him. The warlords glanced at them nervously and clenched their teeth when they felt the nether spirits's dark power striking them as surely as electricity. 

Talpa watched as his warlords suffered agony for a while then stopped and dismissed them. The warlords quickly disappeared in their quarters.

"If they keep it like this, I will need new warlords to control the humans cities…"

Talpa said absently to himself, the nether spirits singing softly around him…

****

"Argh ! All of this is your fault Cale !"

Anubis shoot as he winced in pain, his body reminding him of his earlier punishment.

"My fault ? And how it is my fault, oh dear leader ?"

Cale said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Anubis shoot him a look and suddenly thrown him against the nearest wall, holding him at the throat.

"But it _is your fault ! If you hadn't messed up the last mission, Talpa wouldn't be mad at us now ! I should beat you into a bloody pulp for this !"_

He hissed. Cale stared at him coldly and managed to made him lose his grip on his throat.

"If it's a fight that you want, I can give you one Anubis."

The blue haired man said calmly. Anubis smirked at the other warlord.

"Now that's not a bad idea, what do you think ?"

Cale simply smirked back. Dais and Sekhmet glanced at each other and wisely disappeared, not wanting to be involve in a stupid fight between two overly proud warriors. 

The others two didn't noticed it as they started their battle.

****

"Eh Ryo, where is Sage ? I've been looking for him for the last ten minutes."

"He left earlier. Didn't said where he was going though. You know how he is Rowen."

"Well, actually I wish I know Ryo…"

"…I see…"

"No I don't think you do."

"You're right, maybe I don't…"

"..."

****

_/Damn that son of a bitch !/ _

Cale thought as he collapsed on the dark, dirty alley. His fight against Anubis had left him weaker than he thought, and with Talpa's punishment his body was just too weak to keep going on like this.

Cale struggled for breath as pain ran through his body and he closed his eyes, trying to find the strength to move. He hadn't thought about running into the mortal world to heal his wounds, but Anubis's anger hadn't left him any other choice. 

He simply couldn't stay in the nether realm for the time being, not with their master's favorite angry with him. Anyway he wasn't wearing his armor, so maybe some humans would find him and help him…

_/Oh come on, whom am I kidding ? Those people are too scared to help anybody but themselves. And it's our fault… my fault…/___

Strangely, the thought left him feeling empty inside, rather than the feeling of power and strength that should have been there. 

Cale shook the thought off as he heard soft footstep coming his way, cursing the never ending rain that soaked him to the bones and made him shiver. 

As he lose consciousness, Cale find himself praying for the first time in 400 years, praying for someone to help him…

****

Sage walked slowly down the streets, not paying attention to the cold rain. He didn't have any goal in mind, he just wanted to forget everything for a while and the empty streets were just what he needed. 

As he walked, he heard a soft noise and stopped, warrior instinct kicking in at once. Nobody was out with this weather, so what could it be ? 

When Sage heard the noise again, he noticed that the source was coming from a dark and small alley between two buildings.

Feeling unusually curious, the blonde stepped forward in the alley, but not without taking out the small dagger he always carried with him first. He hadn't survived this long on his own to be caught weaponless after all. 

What he saw wasn't what he was expecting though. Indeed a tall, dark skinned, blue haired man was laying on the dirty ground of the alley, blood pooling around him in a slow but steady flow.

Sage stared at the man for a full minute before somehow switching on auto pilot. He putted his dagger back into its place and carefully took the blue haired man in his arms, looking for a pulse.

When he found one, Sage get up, the man still in his arms and processed to carry him to a safer place where he could check the other's injuries. 

It wasn't an easy task, for the man was heavy and totally limp, but Sage managed to do it without stopping once. All the while, the same thought was running in his head.

/_Why ? Why am I helping this stranger ?/_

Nobody answered him...

****

Watching for afar, a tall man with long white hair stood alone under the rain, a pained smile on his lips as he watched the young ronin helping the dark warlord.

"I'm sorry to use the both of you, my friends, but I have no other choice to stop this war. I hope you will forgive me. Especially you Sage, warrior of light. From now on the fate of the both of you has been sealed."

The sad voice echoes into the empty street as softly as a ghost's voice, before the strange man disappeared. For all we know today, he could have been a ghost himself…

****

The first thing he was conscious of in the darkness surrounding him was pain. A hot, bright pain in his whole being, blanketing him and making him forget everything else.

Then slowly, the darkness faded and he could heard some noises around him. He was becoming aware once more. The numbness was leaving, though the pain wasn't, but he could deal with it now.

When he finally regained the feel of his body he tried to open his eyes, slowly. He blinked a few time against the light as he did and waited for the blurred images in front of him to become clearer. 

Once he was sure his vision was back to normal, he cautiously turned his head to the side and noticed that he was in a small room. 

It was dark, as if the walls had been burned but it was rather clean, as if someone had cleaned it and he was in a bed. A cheap chair was standing next to the bed with a bucket full of water resting on it. 

The water was stained pink and a white towel equally stained pink was laying next to the bucket.

But apart from those the room was empty. The door wasn't existing anymore and a curtain had been draw in an attempt to hide the only window of the room, which was destroyed. 

The glass, which was broken, was probably on the outside of the room since not a single piece of glass could be seen on the ground.

It was all very puzzling.

_/Where am I ? And who could have drag me there ? It certainly wasn't me, the last thing I remember was passing out in an alley./ ___

Cale was still lost in his thoughts when he heard soft footsteps coming his way. He looked up toward the door then and waited to see who it was, only to see an angel standing in the doorstep.

It seems to Cale that it was the only way to describe the young boy standing in front of him. The boy had golden, silky looking hair falling across his face, pale ivory skin and bright, gorgeous violets eyes.

Cale almost lost himself into those breathtaking eyes, before seeing the hidden pain and sadness lurking in their depths. It was hard to see, for the boy's eyes seemed almost frighteningly empty, but for someone like Cale it was as clear as night and day. 

This boy had been hurt before, he thought. Somehow, Cale felt sorry for the boy. And it shocked him greatly, for he had never felt something like this before. 

The young boy watched him expressionlessly then stepped into the room.

"I see you are awake. How are you feeling ?"

"I'm fine… I guess... Who are you ? Why did you help me ? And where are we ?"

"You definitely are feeling better than when I found you if you can talk this much. My name is Sage, and you are in what is left of my old house."

The boy said as he pushed the bucket and towel away and sat in the chair. Cale raised an eyebrow. 

"Huh ? Your old house ? But… it looked like it had been burned. What happened ?"

He asked, curious. Sage sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking through the window with a distant look in his eyes.

"Exactly that. The warlords burned my house five years ago when they first arrived into our world. They also killed my whole family in the process."

He said softly. Cale stared at the blonde in shock and suddenly felt very, very cold inside.

"You said… you said the warlords ?"

"Well in fact it was one warlord. Cale, the warlord of Darkness and Corruption… He was the one who destroy my home that day…"

Sage said, his voice ending in a whisper at the end of his sentence. Cale just stayed still, feeling the cold inside him turning to ice. Then the blonde shook his head and looked at Cale, his face expressionless once again.

"And you ? Who are you ?"

"...I...I live here, I think. I'm confused. I don't remember everything."

Cale lied. He couldn't tell this boy the true, he just couldn't. 

_/But why ? Did that fight with Anubis shook me more than I thought ? He is so gentle, and I can't find hate in him like I usually do in other humans... he is so strange.../                                                                                                 _

Cale stayed silent then, thinking as he watched the blonde boy tend to his wounds, without asking him anything else. Still Cale was puzzled. When Sage had finished his task, he left the room, leaving Cale alone with the promise to come back tomorrow. 

Just before the blonde left Cale stopped him and told him his name, his real name. The one he used to wear before he became a warlord. Somehow, he didn't want the boy to consider him merely a nameless stranger. Why was beyond him.

Very few words had been spoken between the two after that.

****

"Sage ! There you are, I was worried that you had met one of the warlords. Where were you, you had us all worried to death about you !"

Sage shrugged at Ryo's questioning glance and walked upstairs.

"I'm fine, that's what matter so you shouldn't worry."

Ryo stared at him, then shook his head and dropped the subject. He knew that nothing good will come out of it.

****

_Fire and screaming. Smoke, laughers and flames. Here he was, watching a house collapsing. He was laughing, he could heard his own voice in the distance. ___

__

Those screams, they were from those people, a woman with her two daughters and her husband. They were screaming as they watched the burning house falling down on them.

__

_"NO ! "___

__

_That voice... he had heard it before. He turned his head. ___

__

_A young boy, around 12 years old was standing near the house and watching, wide innocent violets eyes filled with tears, blonde hair enlightened by the eerie light of the fire...___

__

_The child's eyes caught his own, and he saw the horror and pain in them changing into a cold, furious determination. The child wiped his tears and ran, leaving his home behind with the promise of vengeance written deep in his eyes.___

Cale wake up with a start, breathing heavily. 

/It was a dream. But... no, not a dream, a memory. And this boy, it was him !! It was that blonde, Sage ! Now I remember… So he really was saying the truth…/

Cale stared in front of him, panting hard, eyes unseeing as his mind was lost in his memories. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He didn't understood what was happening to him, why this memory was shaking him to the core the way it did or why he felt somehow... concerned for the blonde.

He was the murderer of his family, he knew that fact from the moment the blonde had told him about his past. And he was feeling guilty for the first time in 400 years, through he didn't know why. It was really upsetting. In rage Cale hit the nearby wall, making small breaks where his fist had hit the wall.

/Damn ! I don't get it ! I've just met him for a day and my whole world seems to have been turned upside down. What does that mean ? How can I feel this… for  him ? I never had this kind of emotion before. Hell I don't even know what I'm feeling…/

Cale was almost ready to tear down what was left of the house in his frustration when the soft sound of the door opening pulled him out of his trance. Raising his head, Cale noticed that it was Sage who had came back, just as he had promised him the day before.

"Hello Kujuurou. How are you feeling today ?"

"Better. Thank you."

The blonde nodded and sat down next to Cale and for the next hours tend to the warlord's wounds. The whole time they stay in a comfortable silence. Then Sage left again, saying he had to get back to his friends before they started worrying about him again.

Cale watched him leave and sighed, before he leaned on his pillow. Closing his eyes he found his mind filled with pictures of an angelic blonde boy…

****

In his room Sage was staring at his ceiling, eyes unseeing as the picture of a blue haired man danced in his mind.

/I don't really know who he is, but I can't ignore the fact that I feel draw to him somehow. But I wonder why… There must be a reason for this, I never felt anything like this in my entire life before. But why does he seems familiar ?/

Sighing, Sage rubbed his forehead and took a sip of the half empty glass near him before he finally fall asleep, in a world filled with dark dreams, fire and blood.

****

It has been almost been two weeks since Sage had started taking care of Cale and the warlord was almost completely healed now. But the blue haired man's heart was still tormented by his memory and the new found emotions he was feeling.

He had also noticed that the blonde seemed to be slightly nervous too when he was with him and he didn't know if it was because of his reactions of because the blonde was feeling the same.

He really didn't know how to deal with it and was wondering if he should leave and get back to the nether realm as soon as possible. For all he knows he wasn't even sure he was still welcome. 

After all he wouldn't put it past Anubis to try and say he had betrayed Talpa for the humans.

But the more time he spend with Sage the less it seems important to him. They had fell into a nice, happy pattern and were almost always doing the same thing. They meet in the morning in the old, burned house and talk about nothing and everything, sometimes even joking and Cale was surprised to find himself waiting impatiently for the blonde's visits.

But Cale knew that their good fortune could not last. Not in this world. Something was bound to destroy their small happiness, one way or another. And what Cale was dreading finally happened, barely a few minutes after Sage had left him.

****

Here He was, alone again. Sighing Cale ran a hand through his hair as his thoughts floated back to the young blonde who had tae care of him. Then he felt the air suddenly becoming colder and almost jumped out of his skin when a hissing voice echoes into his head without warning.

_//Cale….//___

__

_//Nani ?! What's the hell ?//___

__

_//Cale ! What are you doing ? It's time you come back to the dynasty warlord of darkness.//___

__

_//Badamon…//___

__

_//Yes it's me, Talpa wants you back to his castle as soon as possible, and you should leave now before that blonde you had become so fond of come back. He could have an accident…//___

__

_//If you do so much as touching one of his hair I will kill you myself !//___

__

_//Then move your lazy ass ! Talpa is waiting, and you know he hates that.//___

The voice disappeared with a mocking laugh, leaving the blue hair man shaking and feeling almost ill. It was like this that Sage found him a few hours later.

"Kujuurou ? What's wrong ? You look sick."

"It's… it's nothing Sage, don't worry about me."

"But I'm worry, you look like you just saw a ghost or something."

"Don't worry it's nothing really, nothing important."

"Liar. But well if you don't want to tell me it's your problem after all. But… you're leaving now right ?"

Cale looked up at the blonde in surprise. Sage wore his usual expressionless mask, but Cale could see in his eyes that there was something else, something close to pain.

_/Still, I wonder how does he manage to read me so well…/ ___

Finally Cale dropped his head and nodded.

"Yes… I will have to leave as soon as possible."

"That what they told you ? Well whoever it is, I don't care anyway but I take it you remember your life completely now…"

Cale nodded again, staring at the blonde in silent awe. Sage shrugged and sit down next to the warlord. They stayed in a comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the other's presence, till Cale noticed something that shocked him.

Tears.

Tears, clear and bright as crystal were falling slowly, quietly from glazed violet eyes as Sage turned his head to the side, hiding his face behind his lock of blonde hair, hands trembling slightly in tight fists on his laps.

"Sage ?"

Cale murmured, almost afraid and not knowing what was wrong. He putted a tentative hand on the blonde's shoulder and pushed gently so as to face Sage, and felt his heart aching when he saw the blonde crying.

Sage smiled weakly and wiped his tears, feeling embarrassed and even a bit stupid. He didn't even know why he was crying. He just knew that since Kujuurou had told him he was leaving, he was feeling awfully cold and his heart was hurting him. 

Finally Cale putted his arms around him and draw the blonde into a tight embrace. Sage shivered a little at first, not used to such human contact for a long time and then relaxed, closing his eyes. He felt so nice and warm there that he was sure he could fell asleep in this stranger's arms. Well not really a stranger anymore but still…

"Sage… why ? Why are you crying ? Was it something I did ?"

Cale whispered as he stroked the boy's blonde hair. As he did he couldn't help but to feel awestruck. He had been a merciless warrior for so long, that he almost couldn't believe the gentleness, the concern he was now showing, and feeling, for this boy.  

He felt Sage shaking his head against his chest and then the blonde raised his head to look at him. Their eyes meet and it left them almost frozen in place. They couldn't look away, as if they suddenly had been spellbound.

Sage stared into the midnight blue eyes of the man who was holding him, vaguely aware that he was blushing. Then something happened that was going to change forever their entire life.

He kissed Kujuurou.

He didn't know why he did it, but at the moment it didn't seem to matter. He just did it. And Kujuurou kissed him back, hard. One second he was in the blue haired man's arms and the next he found himself flat on his back pressed against the mattress.

Not that he mind. He felt as if he need this, this desperate contact and this total abandon of all rational thoughts, even for a short while…

He moaned then when Kujuurou kissed him again, and he moaned even louder when the man started to lay little feverish kiss everywhere on his body. Soon enough he was naked, laying in this strange man's arms and trembling but enjoying every second of it. 

It was a desperate joining, in every sense of the word. Every little touch, every little kiss, each gave as if the world was going to end any moment. And it sure felt this way for Sage.

The passion, the emotions were so strong that it felt him breathless, heart hurting both sweetly and cruelly at the same time. He felt as of he was going insane. Opening glazed violet eyes, he saw Kujuurou panting above him, with a look in his eyes that surely match his own if he could look into a mirror.

A look in which you could read pain, loneliness, disbelief, longing, wanting, hope, insanity maybe if you at it closely… a thousand different things which are so human…

But he had no more thought left to think about it now, as Kujuurou was doing the most pleasurable things to his body. He felt his legs being parted and gritted his teeth at the slight pain in the small of his back, but it was distant, almost like in a dream. Then he gasped and his jaw fell opened when Kujuurou filled him.

Blinking at the strange but delightful new sensation in his butt that was running in his whole body, he looked up and lost himself in a pair of haunting, beautiful dark eyes. It was like floating in a dream.

"Sage…"

Cale murmured reverently above him, like he was seeing a prayer, or a holy name. Sage blinked again, startled back into the "real" world and raised his hand, caressing absently Cale's cheek, and smiled.

Cale took his hand in his own, pressing it against his cheek, and smiled back.

Sage's body was now following his lover's rhythm, hips raising to meet his lover's and back arching at every thrust of the blue haired man, stars and psychedelic colors dancing somewhere in his mind.

Then Sage putted his arms around Cale's shoulders and raised his body into a sitting position, pressing himself further against his lover and practically sitting on his laps. He buried his face into Cale's neck and when the man ran a hand in his blond hair, Cale knew he was crying.

"Sage…"

It was all he could say as he thrust into the warm body on his laps, burying himself as deeply as he could while repeating his name again and again, not realising he was crying himself. 

And then just as quickly as it had start, everything stopped. Two muffled screams, unnoticed, were the only sounds as they fell back against the bed, eyes glazed and filled with inexplicable tears.

Cale pulled Sage into his arms and hold him, as if hoping to chase away whatever pain the blond and himself were feeling. Sage for his part was silent, eyes unseeing and empty as he gazed into emptiness, tears sliding down his cheeks softly like misplaced jewels.

Cale didn't say anything either as he wiped those tears away. 

When sleep finally found them they were still tangled with each other, their souls at peace for a while at least in their slumber.

****

Cale was slightly confused when he woke up the next day, until he saw Sage still sleeping by his side. The blonde was sleeping peacefully on his side, his back facing the blue haired man, making it impossible for him to see his face, but he could see the gentle raising of his body as he breaths. 

Cale stared at the boy for a full, long minute before he turned away almost violently, getting up hastily.

/I can't believe it ! I can't believe I… that I made love to him ! He… he is but a child… and I am the murderer of his family ! How could I do this to him ?/

Degust, rage, concern, fulfilment and a couple of other feeling he couldn't identify warred in his soul. Taking a deep breath, Cale turned again to see the blonde still sleeping.

_/After what I did, I cannot stay. I will only hurt him if I do. I'm a warlord, and he is a human. My presence at his side is a danger, I must leave./_

He told himself and prepared to leave. Calling his armor to him, Cale thrown a last look to the strange boy he had come to care about, even love even if he wasn't totally aware of it, the feelings still confused in his mind, unused as it was to such sensory overload.

Finally he walked back to the bed and bend over, giving a light kiss to the boy's one visible cheek. As he did, a single tear fell unnoticed on the pale skin. Then he walked away.

"I'm sorry Sage… I didn't want this but it's better that way… I hurt you enough in the past even if I wasn't really conscious of it. Forgive me, and most of all forget me, I don't want to see you hurt again…"

He whispered in a hoarse voice, hoping that his desperate message would somehow reach the sleeping blonde, and that he would understand. Then he closed his eyes and called his power to him, disappearing from the house in a small cloud of blackness and heading for the dynasty.

As Cale left the mortal realm he didn't see the blonde's eyes opening, having heard everything. 

He didn't see the wounded, haunted look in their violet, crystalline depth nor the fresh tears that were falling anew. He didn't see Sage hugging his pillow tightly as he cried his heart out. And he didn't heard it when his soft, broken voice called out to him either.

"Cale… so it was really you… Why… Why ? Why did it have to be you ? Why did you have to leave ?! To leave me ?!…. I just hope that you are fine and happy wherever you are Cale… Now that I know you, I don't know if I will be able to fight you again. Look like we both have our secret ne ? You a warlord and me a ronin… It's pathetic really…. If… if I can make one wish, it would be for us to be together again. That's all I want, Cale… I don't care who you are, can't you understand ?!"

The broken heart blonde whispered into nothingness, eyes wide, empty and unblinking. 

Hurting

Lonely

Afraid

Hoping

Praying

Waiting for a miracle

For a lost love…

A song lost in the wind…

"_Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine  
I'm leaving my life in your hands   
People say I'm crazy and that I am blind   
Risking it all in a glance   
How you got me blind is still a mystery   
I can't get you out of my head   
Don't care what is written in your history   
As long as you're here with me_

_I don't care who you are   
Where you're from   
What you did   
As long as you love me   
Who you are   
Where you're from   
Don't care what you did   
As long as you love me _

_Every little thing that you have said and done   
Feels like it's deep within me   
Doesn't really matter if you're on the run   
It seems like we're meant to be _

_I don't care who you are   
Where you're from   
What you did   
As long as you love me   
Who you are   
Where you're from   
Don't care what you did   
As long as you love me _

_Bridge _

_I've tried to hide it so that no one knows   
But I guess it shows   
When you look into my eyes   
What you did and where you're coming from   
I don't care, as long as you love me, baby. _

_I don't care who you are   
Where you're from   
What you did   
As long as you love me   
Who you are   
Where you're from   
Don't care what you did   
As long as you love me…_"__

OWARI… Or To Be Continued ?

Author's note : I have an idea to end the fic with a less angsty end but it's up to you if I should write it or not. Tell me what you want. I can either left it that way or write a sequel/second chapter. Review and tell me what you would like to see please ? And well, I noticed that this fic is rather "fast" when you consider all the events and time it cover, but I didn't have the strength to do it any longer and beside, it was Sage-centric I told you. I hope this detail won't bother anyone. ^^;;;;


	2. After Thoughts

Author's notes : This piece of poetry has been written as an accompaning piece to my fic Rain. It's from Seiji's POV.

Warrior's Heart 

As I lay on my empty bed afterward

I can't help but think of him

Him, my nemesis, my counterpart…

As I replay the last few memories in my head

I remember the way he looked at me

Cold eyes once threatening to kill me burning warm…

Blood spilled by both of our hands

Now mixed in a whole new way

And I feel like screaming as I cry…

For warrior heart is like steel

Hard, but still breakable

And I think I just reached the limit…

I don't want him to leave me

I don't want to be alone and cold anymore

But we are too far away from each other, two worlds apart…

We know that our fragile bound wasn't mean to be

And we can do nothing, nothing but wait

Nothing but watch, till the end of our fight…

By Shadow of Arashi

30/01/02


	3. And The Rain Keeps Falling

Author's notes: Here is the second and last part of my fic Rain. The things I said in the first part applied here as well, so I have nothing new to say. _"__In this world Talpa took over the human world and his warlords are making sure nobody disobey the emperor. But five young boys with nothing in common, not even supposed to be together but for their holy armors have decided to fight for their freedom, and their future… A darker look into what could be… but mostly Sage-centric."___

Warning: Yaoi, straight, dark themes, swearing (for once), yaoi lemon, rape (Katherine's idea, not suppose to go all the way but it grow out of control with me writing *evil smirk* and lot of angst. Weird poetic like allusion/writing and angst popping everywhere too. O.o

Disclaimer: I don't own the ronins so don't sue me please. Any flames against yaoi will be use to burn all my old school books and you will be laugh at and use as a living target for Sanzo's gun.

PS Notes: A BIG THANKS TO KATHERINE FROM SPLIT PERSONA WHO HELP ME A LOT WITH THIS STORY, THANK YOU GIRL! ^_~ THIS STORY IS FOR YOU!

And The Rain Keeps Falling… 

By Shadow of Arashi

_"__They said that love can conquer everything… can it? Or is it something we delude ourselves with?"___

****

They sat around the kitchen table in silence. Every once and a while Kento or Rowen would put in a comment to lighten the mood of the household. But Cye sat with a frown on his face.

"What is it love?"

Rowen asked.

"You'd truly think he hated my cooking from the way he avoids it."

The brunette said sadly.

"Hey, I know how you are about your food, but Sage will be Sage," Rowen said softly as he pats his lover's shoulder. "None of us can change that."

"But when he came back the other day he looked so blank, more so than usual," Cye pointed out. "His eyes were red as if he'd been crying."

"Sage doesn't cry."

Kento replied.

"You don't know that," Mia countered. "But we can't force him to tell us anything."

"Let stay in his room for another day and I bet he'll be begging for Cye Mouri's delicacies."

Rowen assured him.

"You know how he is," Kento told him. "He probably just needs time alone."

Through the entire conversation Ryo said nothing. He was too busy thinking. 

/_Sage has been acting way to distant for even him. __Three days in his room is surely overkill compared to his usual behavior. I know we're not the best of friends or anything close to it, but if the warlords attack he might not be ready for a battle. I just hope he breaks out of this soon./_

"Ryo, what do you think we should do you about Sage?"

Rowen said, wanting to put an end to this conversation, and asked his leader's opinion.

"I really don't know Rowen, I really don't know what's wrong with him."

"What can we do?"

"Right now, nothing. At least nothing I can think of. As long as he won't tell us what is bothering him, we won't be able to help him. If he wants to be help that is…"

"I don't get it Ryo, what is happening to us?"

Rowen said in a whisper, so soft that Ryo always didn't catch it.

"I don't know Rowen… I really don't know…"

****

In his room, Sage was curled up on his bed in a foetal position, eyes glazed and unblinking. He wasn't crying any longer, he had no tears left for that. All he was doing was staring into emptiness as he thought of Cale.

He missed the dark haired man deeply, even though they hadn't been together for long. And despite knowing that the man was the murderer of his family, he couldn't find it in him to hate him.

As strange as it was, a bound had been formed between them. Through that bound they both had shared a kind of understanding. Something linked to their past wounds and their very souls.

Sage had never felt this close to anybody before and he missed, no need that closeness again. Part of him wanted to hate Cale for what he had done but another part, stronger, knew that something was missing in this picture.

The man had been so gentle and concerned with his well-being, Sage knew he couldn't have fake it. And that was disturbing. How could someone who had seems so evil once could show such tender feelings ?

It was just so confusing…

_/I want… I need to see him again. I need to understand!/_

Sage thought desperately, holding himself tightly and burying his head in his knees.

_/I just hope that he is alright, wherever he is./_

The blond teen thought, glancing outside through his window. Only to see the ever present rain still dropping from those cursed, black clouds.

Absently he thought that whatever god was up there to watch them, if there was one, was certainly as fuck up as the monsters from the dynasty for letting the situation going down the drain this way.

Sighing he stared at the rain for a few more minutes before his thoughts ran back to Cale. 

He was confused as hell and his mind was a jumble that he was too tired to sort out. His cheeks were still streaked from his earlier tears and he felt hollow inside now, too desolate and barren of any and everything emotional.

_/Why do I feel like this?/_

He asked himself. 

/_I shouldn't feel anything. I shouldn't care that he left me. We never could have had a life together anyway./ _

His eyes were so red that tears could no longer come. But then he could also feel the emotions of those down stairs as well.

_/Why are they worried about me? They know nothing of what happened and yet they still worry./ _

Sage couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out of the house and away from all the other feelings around him. 

He had almost wanted to let go and give in to all the others' pains so that he himself would lose sense of emotions completely. But he knew that it would only cause a problem in battle and he would not endanger their mission.

_/It's all ready in danger, he laughed at himself, hard and almost cruel in its irony. __I can never face him again, let alone fight him. Oh Cale, why did this have to happen? Why couldn't it have been different? Why did we have to be who we are?/ _

He wanted to rid himself of his thoughts and yet the only place he could think to go was somewhere he knew would bring nothing but painful memories.

Slowly, he stood and got dressed as if he was nothing more that a puppet being led by strings. But even puppets had more life in their movements. 

/_At least there I can still feel him near me./_

He put on his shoes and unlocked his door after leaving it that way for three days. Then he walked down the stairs.

****

Outside standing under the dark, heavy rain a tall man with long white hair was watching a young, crying blonde through a window.

His expression was hidden by his hat, preventing any curious watchers to know what he was thinking, and at the same time to know if the water running down his face was only rain... or something else…

"My poor child, I'm sorry you have to suffer so much, but your destiny is already written by now. Just have a little patience for it's only going to get worse before it get better…"

The man murmured as the blonde left his room and then, he disappeared.

****

The others were in the living room of the house when he get out of his room and stared in surprise as he came to the bottom of the stairs. He walked to the closet and grabbed his coat before heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

Mia asked.

"Out." 

Was all the blonde say.

"But don't you think you should eat something first?"

Cye put in. 

"It's been three days."

"Don't get into my affairs,"

Sage said emotionlessly. 

"They have nothing to do with you." 

He knew he sounded harsh and wanted it that way. He wouldn't even look at them for fear of them seeing the redness of his tear-spent eyes.

"You don't have to be so snippy." 

Cye frowned before walking into the kitchen. Sage merely ignored him as he left the house.

"That's it!" 

Ryo cried. He was fed up with everything. He stood from his seat next to Mia and walked to the closet.

"You better not be trying to follow him."

Mia stated, a knowing look in her eyes.

"You think I won't?" 

Ryo gave her a look.

"Leave him be." 

She said, trying to prevent her boyfriend's temper from flaring, and for a minute Ryo thought she looked worn and tired, as if the last few days had suck her energy dry.

"He's been going off for weeks only to comeback and lock himself in his room with no food or water for three days, then just gets up and leaves again." Ryo, said, temper cooling off a bit. "His attitude is going to affect the mission and I want to know what the hell is going on."

"You're asking for it if he finds out."

Kento pointed out.

"He's not gonna find out until I get my answers." 

Ryo stated at with that he walked out the door.

****

In the nether realm… 

"Cale, Lord Talpa wishes to speak to you." 

The smirk never left the red-haired man's face.

"Whatever Anubis."

He answered in a distracted tone. He'd felt strange ever since he'd returned, almost as if he shouldn't be there in the first place. He rose from his futon and walked out the door, ready to here Talpa's ranting about his long hiatus. 

But truly his mind was somewhere else, or rather on someone else.

Anubis watched his disconnected actions as he pushed past him and headed down the hall. He turned to Sekhmet and Dais with a raised brow. 

"What in hells is up with him?" he asked. "Was he in the city too long? Maybe it affected his brain."

"I heard Badamon tell Talpa that he was staying with a blonde boy the entire time," Naaza snickered. "A rather cute blonde at that."

"It that so?" 

Anubis thought as a devilish smirk cross his lips.

"You know how Talpa dislikes us going out without his say," Dais warned. "Don't do anything stupid." 

With that he and Naaza disappeared from the hallway.

"Talpa my ass." 

He smirked as he quickly left in a huff of smoke.

Cale preferred to walk than to just teleport to the throne room. It gave him time to force out all of his doubting thoughts. 

/_Why did I come back?/_

He wondered to himself. 

/_I could have stayed with him. Left all of this for him./_

He shook his head in denial and sighed.

_/That would only put him in danger. Talpa would hunt me down. I can't ever go back to him, I can't put him in the line of fire so selfishly./ _

With his decision final in his mind, he stood in front of large door and pushed them open.

It was cold and silent as he walked in. Talpa was waiting with a look of anger in his eyes. Cale bowed to him and then kneeled. 

"What is it you wish of me, my master?"

Cale asked even though the words now sounded so foreign from his mouth.

"Where have you been my warlord?" Talpa asked. "Why did you leave the castle?"

"Anubis and I had a difference of opinion, my lord," Cale explained. "I thought is best to leave then to force discomfort onto you."

"Then why have you waited so long to return?" the demon asked. "Was it because of this boy Badamon spoke of?"

_/Oh hell…/_

Cale wanted to kick himself for not thinking Badamon would run and inform Talpa. Now he'd have to make up some excuse or else his return would have been for nothing.

"The boy was no one," he shrugged with his lie. "He was merely a boy that insisted on  helping me, stupid human sympathy I guess." 

He was glad Badamon was not in the room, or else he would have been in trouble.

"Is that all?" Talpa asked. "Then why not return earlier?"

"Anubis and I had an 'altercation' before I departed." he said. "I thought it best to wait until I was at my best to serve you."

"I see." 

Talpa nodded. There was a strange flicker in his black eyes before he waved his hand in the air.

"You may go Cale, but be ready to strike against the galling Ronin Warriors soon."

"As you wish, Master Talpa."

He stood, bowed once again at left the room. As he shut the door he couldn't help, but feel worried. 

/_That was just too easy./ he thought. /__He never usually lets anyone, but Anubis off the hook like that./_

Trying to shake himself of the negative feeling in his stomach. He returned to his room, even through he had the sickening feeling that tragedy was going to strike soon...

****

Unknown to Cale, two shadows appeared out of the walls of the throne room as soon as he was gone. Anubis grinned inwardly at how Talpa had prevented Kale for sensing them. 

"As you could see in his mind my lord," Anubis pointed out, "his thoughts are slowly turning from you."

"I see what you spoke of."

Talpa agreed in a nasty growl, eyes blazing red. He could not afford to lose one of his warlords, especially not now.

"I do not believe it is Cale's fault," Anubis said innocently. "But maybe this boy has caused the virtue of his armor to change its course of following."

"I will none of this nonsense among my warlords!"

Talpa's shout echoed through the room, waves of demonic powers running free in the room and making even the warlords wince.

"What would you have us do master?" 

Badamon, who had appeared into the room at the shoot of his master, asked.

"If what Anubis says is true than I want the boy." Talpa said. "Cale's armor must remain obedient to me and me alone. Anubis, find this boy and bring him to me. Badamon, help him. I shall not allow such things to go on. It is a weakness I want dealt with!"

"As you wish Master."

The two bowed before disappearing. 

/_To kill Cale would be too easy and painless, Anubis smiled. __But this will be much more effective./_

Talpa growled at the turn of events. He knew he could not afford to give up one of his warlords at such a crucial time. The battles were almost over and he would NOT lose. He did not have the time for the armor to wait for a new bearer if he killed Cale. 

For now, he was just going to eliminate the problem.

****

The house looked more empty to him now that he knew no one would be there waiting for him. It felt even colder than after the fire when his family had died. 

/_He killed them, he reminded himself. __And yet it doesn't matter to me anymore. I love him./ _

He forced emotions to stay hidden even longer as he entered his former home. He was not aware of another figure that watched his from a distance.

He followed the path to his old room that had been engraved into his mind. He stood in the doorway staring at the bed that his love had stayed in for so long, the bed that they had… 

/_Don't think about that, he shook his head. __It will only make it worse./ _

But to him the pain in his chest could get no worse.

He walked hesitantly over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. The sheets lay balled up on the floor next to it, but he could still smell the scent of their joining on it. Even though he didn't want to think about it, all the images flashed in his mind. He lowered himself to the mattress and let out a silent cry for tears that never came.

Then there was the sound of footsteps in the doorway. Sage froze for one moment, he almost prayed for them to be the footsteps of the one he told himself to forget. Quickly he raised his body and turn towards the door, only to growl at the figure that stood there in the partial shadows.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

He snarled at whoever it was. It was dark and he couldn't see as well as he would have liked, but he believed it to have been one of the other Ronins.

"Why did you follow me?!"

He asked again. The figure seemed to laugh at him before answering in an unfamiliar and yet slightly familiar voice. 

"He said you were pretty, but never did he say just how pretty."

"Who are you?" 

Sage questioned when he could not think whom the voice could belong to. 

Another laugh came from the person and the form seemed to just disappear from the doorway. Before he could move, he was pressed roughly face first against the bed and his attacker's face came into view through the moonlight. 

He was a man not much older than he was with long red-colored hair and green eyes that seemed to smile at him with evil thoughts behind them. He was wearing what felt like sub armor much like his own and he wondered for a moment who it could be.

"I have come to bring you to Talpa." The man smirked. "He's very interested in you. But he didn't say I couldn't have some fun first." 

Sage's eyes widened and he began to struggle, but the man above him wasn't giving him any leeway. Lack of food for three days only made his situation worse.

_/Does he know who I am? He wondered. __Or do they know about Cale and come to kill me for him instead?/_

"Get the hell off me!" 

He yelled and his mouth was quickly covered. 

Anubis smiled at the fear he'd seen in the boy's eyes and knew he would definitely have _fun with the blonde beauty. He began ripping the boy's clothes and let out a laugh at the look of  both anger and fear on the boy's face. _

He soon had the boy naked and trashing under him, and he was definitely enjoying the sight. The blonde was lovely and as pretty and soft as a female to the touch, with still having a fiery spirit. He could understand why Cale hadn't resist screwing this human.

Grinning, Anubis called his subarmor off and pinning the blonde's wrists effectively with his right hand, he parted the blonde's legs roughly, and not losing time entered in one swift trust, not caring if he hurt the boy. He wanted his fun and damned if he was going to be deny. 

He almost howl in pleasure at the incredible feeling, spurred on even more by the sight the boy was unconsciously making, his hard trusts drawing blood and making it easier to slide in and out of the broken body, all in a very morbid way…

Sage bit back a scream as Anubis entered and blinked, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

He knew what was going to happen the second this man had throw him onto the bed, but it didn't prevent him from inwardly screaming his pain, not did it prevent his eyes from widening in shock.

His whole body tensed as the first trust and his back arched of the bed, his eyes glazing over with pain. Sage's body trembled lightly in the warlord's grip but he didn't say anything, as he felt his mind becoming numb.

Sage stared at the ceiling, unblinking, while Anubis raped him. He could do nothing to stop the man now anyway, but he wasn't going to give him the pleasure to hear him beg. He was stronger than that.

The man was using his body, fine. Even if he hated it, even if he wanted nothing more than to run that bastard with his sword, all he could do now was to lay still and wait for the nightmare to end. 

Wait.

All he could do was wait even as this black could of despair clouded his mind, even as this cloud of hate and loneliness and apathy take him over and suddenly he didn't care any longer. Didn't care about the war didn't care about the ronins didn't care about the blood running down his thighs or the man raping him he just didn't care anymore…

_/Cale…/_

He thought as his mind started to fade into that private place of him, that place where he wouldn't feel what the warlord was doing to him. Cale, the only thing he still care about… 

Just then, a voice rang loud into the room, still managing startling him.

"SAGE!"

_/Ryo… No… NO RYO GO AWAY.../_

He thought weakly, before his mind shut down completely, missing the dark laugh the evil warlord let out when he heard the other helpless boy on the other side of the door. The door of Despair, or Fate. 

One in the same for them.

Anubis felt it when the blonde grew unresponsive and limp in his arms, but didn't stop. The lifeless, dull, glazed look in the usually bright violet eyes didn't bother him either. He didn't stop until he came with his last trust inside the body of the suddenly doll like blonde, and still then he didn't pull out right away.

It was only once he had found his breath again and licked the blood off the boy's legs with a smirk that he finally left the blonde's body alone and teleported into the dynasty, a sneer on his lips at he thought of the distress boy he had left clueless in the human world, and of the blue haired warlord he had definitely screw over by taking his lover...

****

Ryo stared at the house that he had just watched Sage enter. It looked as if it had been in a fire, but the strong building had pulled through the best it could. For some reason he felt as if he was intruding on sacred ground. 

/_Don't back down now, he told himself. __You have to find out what the hell this is all about./_

Taking a breath, he walked in the house and stared around. It looked barren and the walls charred. The blonde was nowhere to be found on the first floor as he searched. 

/_Why would he come here?/ _

Ryo wondered in his in mind. That's when he heard the yell from upstairs. He quickly walked to the stairs and ended up stepping on something that broke like glass.

He stopped and looked down at what seemed to be a slightly burned picture frame. Picking it up off the ground he could make out five figures in the picture. Four of them had been burned and distorted by what he could think to be the fire that had taken the home. 

The only visible person was a young blonde boy.

He looked to be nothing more than twelve and his eyes were bright and innocent. A large smile covered his face as he had his arm around someone that would have been standing next to him. The boy in this picture looked happy and content. 

/_Sage?/ _

Ryo thought for a moment before he heard a scream from upstairs. He dropped the picture and quickly, but silently made his way up the stairs.

When he arrived upstairs he heard the scream again, just as he saw a door. He ran to it and tried to open it but it was locked, and Ryo could feel it wasn't natural.

_/Dynasty power!/_

His mind screamed. Just then the scream echoes again, weaker, and Ryo recognize Sage's voice.

"SAGE!"

Ryo slammed his fist against the door with all his strength, only succeeding in hurting his fist. Inside he could heard some trashing and what sound like moans, but he couldn't hear Sage's voice any more. 

Ryo started to panic and pounded his fist against the door, desperately trying to find a way to save his friend.

Silent tears of helplessness ran down his cheeks as he listen to the sounds inside the cursed room, his eyes widening in shock and almost falling on his knees when he heard the faint echo of the blonde's voice in his head. 

_/Ryo… No… NO RYO GO AWAY.../_

Finally, after what feel like forever but was instead more 15 minutes, the door was suddenly unlocked and it opened itself violently under his pounding, making crashing head first on the ground into the room.

Ryo scrambled to his feet hurriedly and looked around, cursing when he didn't saw the blonde anywhere. He was already worried sick but it only got worse when he saw a mattress on the corner of the room.

A blood soaked mattress.

Paling, Ryo ran to the bed and stared, eyes wide in horror when he recognize Sage's torn shirt laying on it.

/What the hell??!! Does… does the dynasty have him??! Oh god…Damn Sage please be okay!/

Ryo thought fervently, before he took Sage's shirt and ran away from the burned house and back to the other ronins for help, ready to go attack the dynasty right away for their lost friends.

****

Cale had a very bad feeling. A very bad one. Ever since his meeting with Talpa something was nagging at the back of his mind, like a dagger of ice pointed at his heart, soul, and mind. 

And he couldn't shake it off. Something was seriously wrong and he could feel that tragedy was going to strike, and that he was on the bad side of what Fate had decided. 

That thought made Cale stop and think. 

Since when does he care wherever he was on the good side or the bad one? 

Shaking his head Cale walked toward his room, determinate to find out. Silently he prayed for the safety of his lover.

****

"GUYS!"

Every single ones of the ronins jumped at the desperate voice of their leader and turned around toward the black haired boy, wondering what the hell was wrong this time.

They were already prepared for the worst, but they weren't expecting to see their leader breathless, dried tears on his cheeks and a murdering light in his blue eyes.

"Ryo?"

Mia whispered, feeling scared into her very soul. Ryo just shook his head, black locks of hair flying around his face like the wings of a fallen raven. He took a deep breath before he finally was able to talk again.

"The dynasty… they have Sage! Follow him… into a burn house… only found his shirt… soaked in blood!"

He gasped out and closed his eyes when he saw the distress look on his team's face. They all looked kind of shocked, but he know they were ready to leave and fight right away to get Sage back, just like he was.

"What are we waiting for then?! Let's go and get it done and over with!"

Kento growled, and Rowen could only nod behind him.

"He is right, this war has been going on for far too long. I think that now is the moment Fate has chosen to end it. Let's go, Ryo?"

The black haired leader just nodded and straighten, before calling his subarmor. The other follow his example and they left the house, ready to find the warlords and end the war.

They were all too weary to keep on fighting like this anymore anyway, and they know that if they didn't strike and won now, they never will.

Ryo took a last look at Mia and their house, seeing his girlfriend smiling at him. 

She was crying.

Ryo smiled at her sadly and stepped toward her, hugging her and feeling her frail body trembling in his arms. He raised her chin so he could look at her and kissed her softly before letting go, and ran to the rest of his team.

He didn't saw Mia making a last prayer for his safety.

****

"Ah, here you are, I would like to know what took you so long to retrieve the boy Anubis."

Talpa growled as Anubis appeared into the throne room, carrying a dazed, seemingly lifeless blonde in his arms. 

The dark emperor noted the glazed violet eyes and the blood which was caking what was left of the torn clothes, barely covering the blonde's body and raised an eyebrow at Anubis.

The warlord shrugged and shifted the boy in his arms, his blonde head falling to the side and letting Talpa see just as much the blonde was attractive. He mentally shook his head at his warlord, knowing there was no way he could have prevent him from taking the boy and he didn't care.

"Anyway I don't have the time for this, just go and lock the boy into the dungeon, and then come back here. _Immediately_."

Anubis bowed, showing he understand and disappeared.

****

When Anubis reappeared, he was into the dungeon. Opening one of the cell he throw the boy down carelessly, observing as the blonde didn't so much as blink, looking like a soulless doll more than ever.

"Well doll, I guess I can always come back and play with you later."

He whispered into the blonde's ear and left the cell, laughing.

He didn't saw the soft green light enveloping the broken, battered body and the wounds healing to the ancestral magic, even if it's soul was still scared.

****

"It had started, finally…"

****

Somewhere in the dynasty a small group of young warriors were silently making their way inside Talpa's castle…

****

Cale walked down the long corridors, still wondering when he felt a strange sensation. It was like something, or someone was calling him, like a soft pulling in his soul.

Puzzled, Cale stopped and shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

That's when he noticed he wasn't alone.

"I heard Anubis came back from his mission."

_/Dais?/_

Quickly hiding behind a wall, Cale saw the two warlords and wondered briefly how he had missed them first thing, and how they hadn't noticed him already. Dais was fidgeting and Sekhmet was his annoying crazy self.

_/Fidgeting? Why is he fidgeting about?/_

"Yeah, and he had that blonde boy with him. Judging by the look of it when he throw him in the dungeon, he had had a bit of his lovely ass just for him! I can't wait to see Cale's face when he will heard it. Not that I wouldn't mind a bit of that blonde myself. Bwahahaha!!"

/WHAT???!!! Sage? No he… Oh God what a fool I have been!! I left him alone to prevent this very kind of things from happening to him and in the end, it happened anyway… I should have stay with him if it was going to end like this! Anubis you're dead!/

Cale thought as he saw red. Hot white rage ran through his body as he thought of his blonde lover, the very thought of his angelic boy treated in such a way making him physically ill. 

He was ready to jump and murder both of the other warlords when he saw Dais's eyes widened in shock, an expression of degust clearly written on his face.

"That's sick Sekhmet! I may not have a lot of morals as a warlord, but I don't find the idea of rape appealing at all! I may be a liar, a murderer and a coward but I'm not a rapist, do what you want but leave me out of this!"

Dais said with a glare of degust toward the other warlord and disappear, not interested in those morbid things, not knowing he had just spared his own life with those words and that he had just opened the door of salvation...

From his hiding place, Cale growled low in his throat as he watch Sekhmet shaking his head and snarled. The green haired warlord raised his head at the sound and gasped as he spotted Cale. 

He was ready to yell when Cale literally pounced on him and send the other man flying across the corridor against the other wall with a well place fist in the warlord's face. Sekhmet dropped on the floor limply, unconscious.

"I will deal with you later, Snake."

Cale murmured with a barely audible, hate-filled voice before leaving the place as swiftly as a shadow. He was going to the dungeon.

****

"You call me master?"

Anubis said, kneeling before the dark emperor.

"Yes, I know that somehow those cursed ronins found their way inside my castle. I want you to stop them!"

Anubis raised startled eyes toward his emperor, shocked.

"How? They never managed to enter our realm before! The fights always took place in the human world."

"I know, but it look like they did success anyway. I think they finally managed to open one of the gates I use to send my soldiers in the human world and then follow the call of their armors to my castle. But it doesn't matter, they can come! I won't have to look for them that way! This time this petty game will be over once and for all."

Talpa growled, eyes blazing a deep ruby red and Anubis felt that the emperor was not talking to him anymore, but rather was lost in his thoughts and in that other world that seems to be living in his mind. 

Knowing he was dismissed, Anubis disappeared and went on his way to find the ronins. Finding them shouldn't be that hard after all, they were at a disadvantage in this world. 

Smirking to himself, Anubis went hunting.

****

"Ryo…"

"What?!"

Rowen sighed and rolled his eyes at the impatience of his leader.

"Stop it, we need to think and to find some clues as to where we are. It won't do us anyway good if we do defeat Talpa but died because we can't find our way out! So let's stop and try to find a way to know where we are exactly, okay?"

Ryo growled but back down, knowing that Rowen was right. As much as he hated to stop and lose time, he had to admit that getting lost inside Talpa's castle (and it was atrociously easy) was not appealing at all.

Sighing he leaned against a wall, watching the blue haired archer observing his surrounding and making notes and observations like a scientist would do. Ryo closed his eyes and relaxed a bit, savoring the quiet around him. 

But unfortunately the quiet wasn't going to last. 

Ryo was about to ask Rowen what he had find so far when suddenly, they felt it.

A dark mass of powerful energy. A really powerful one, and it was coming their way.

The four warriors gave a small yelp of surprise but quickly fell into fighting positions, weapons ready and eyes scanning the dark spaces around them looking for their opponent. 

They could feel the tension grow as they search around frantically and each passing second made the tightening in their chest grew bigger; setting them on edge, turning them into living bombs desperately wanting to explode.

Their grip on their weapon was turning painful when finally, just as the tension was being unbearable a dark, ugly laugh echoed around them, making the startled warriors jumped.

"So here you are, stupid fools. You look great like this, all pressed up against each other and trembling! What a fine team indeed! Bwahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!"

"Anubis! You mother fucker dirty bastard son of a bitch!!"

"Temper temper boy, and know who you are insulting first!"

Anubis said angrily, preparing to get rid of the annoying little pests. He raised his arms and prepared his attack, smirking.

"QUAKE WITH FEAR!!"

The last fight had began.

****

Cale ran as fast as he could, still hiding in the shadows until he finally saw the doors leading toward the donjon. 

His stopped there and took a deep breath, his heart beating madly inside his chest. He could definitely _feel_ his love's pain now, and it was killing him.

Finally he opened the door and stepped inside, quickly advancing and scanning the cells, looking for his love through their newly formed bound.

His heart started beating even faster at the though of his poor blonde alone, cold and hurt inside such a horrible place.

It was cold, humid and definitely unsanitary. Pain and suffering seem to have become permanent residents of this part of the castle.

_/Anubis will pay for that later I swear./_

He thought darkly. After a few minutes of research, he found himself pulled toward one of the latest cells and opened the small window on the door, trembling inwardly at what he may find as he tried to see inside the dark room.

He quickly let out a gasp of shock when he saw the unconscious blonde laying on the floor.

In a second Cale had yanked the door opened and was kneeling at Sage's side.

"SAGE?! Sage? Can you heard me? Sage!"

He yelled, holding the blonde against his chest in an attempt to wake him up. He noticed with growing fear that Sage's body was cold and covered in blood. He started to panic and was definitely ready to lose it when a soft cough stopped him.

In his arms Sage coughed and trembled weakly, before his violet eyes opened slowly.

"Cale?"

He murmured, blinking a few times, seemingly not believing his eyes. Cale let out a deep sigh of relief and hold his love tight.

"Yes Sage, it's me. You are safe now. Are you okay?"

"I think so… I guess I'm in the dynasty's donjon right?"

Sage said softly, a humorless smile on his lips. Cale just nodded and let go of the blonde slightly when Sage tried to sit up. Sage shook his head a few times, to clear his thoughts before speaking again.

"If I'm in the donjon what are you doing here then?"

"I couldn't let them hurt you! I'm so sorry Sage, it's my fault… None of this would have happen if you hadn't meet me… I knew that since I'm warlord I wouldn't be able to… to love you. It's my fault, I'm sorry. You must hate me now…"

"Yeah right Cale, I hate you and if you hadn't meet me you would be dead somewhere in an alley and I would still feel as empty as before."

Sage said almost matter-off-factly, and Cale winced at the cold, icy tone in the blonde's voice. Looking up into his love's eyes Cale gasped at the hardness he saw there.

"What did you think Cale? That I would regret meeting you? That I would hate you once I knew who you were? Well let me you that, **NO** I don't regret any of the things that happen between us and **NO** I don't hate you. I knew who you were since the moment you left me after… after we… after we make love… I heard you Cale, I heard what you said and you know what? I don't care. I don't care anymore about what happen or what that man did to me, I can get over it but not alone. All I know is that I want you with me, and that I never want you to leave me again!"

Sage cried, voice cracking at the end as he stared at Cale and thrown himself into his love's arms in despair, tears running down his face.  

Cale just hold him, unmoving and eyes unblinking in his shock, not knowing how to react.

"You…knew?"

He finally managed to whisper, not believing that his angel was still here in his arms after what happened to him.

Sage nodded against his chest and tightened his grip on the blue haired warrior. Finally, desperate to prove his words Sage raised his head and quickly, pressed his lips against Cale's and kissed him.

Cale's eyes closed when he felt his blonde angel's soft lips and moaned. He couldn't believe his luck. When he pulled away he caressed the blonde's cheek softly and smiled, his blue eyes gazing into violets ones.

"Sage… Don't worry I won't leave you ever again, I promise. Not now that I know."

Sage smiled brightly, tears of joy in his eyes this time and threw his arms around the blue haired man's neck, burying his face in his neck.

"I'm glad, I miss you so much!"

"Me too Sage, me too." 

Cale whispered. He was about to left the place with Sage when he felt something, something that made his body shiver, and he _knew_.

A fight has began.

His body tensed at the knowledge, and he cursed his situation, Talpa and everything he could think of.

Hardening himself for what he had to do, Cale took a deep breath and gazed at this love.

"Sage I must go now, and no I'm not leaving you but there is something I have to take care of first. The other are fighting inside the castle, the ronins have managed to find us and I must fight." 

"The ronins?!"

Sage couldn't help but gasped at the new, feeling overwhelmed.

_/Did they come for me?!/_

Cale just nodded at the blonde, not knowing of his inner troubles and hugged him tightly.

"Yes, the ronins. I don't want to fight for Talpa any longer and that's why I must go. I have to put an end to this and I want you to stay here, safe and away from harm reach okay? I won't take no for an answer!"

"But, Cale…!"

"There is no but! I don't want you to get hurt do you understand? I wouldn't stand it. Stay here and be safe, I promise I will be back."

Cale ordered more than he asked, and with a final kiss he teleported away from the donjon to the battlefield.

Sage was left alone again, feeling near tears again.

"Cale you idiot! Why won't you listen to me?! I have my own secrets too you know, and now may be the perfect time for you to know them. I won't leave you to fight alone! It concern me as well after all…"

Sage cried softly, before weeping his eyes and getting up. 

/That's it, I'm not going to cry anymore. I will stand and fight now, no matter the outcome. If something happened at least this way we will be together. I'm not going to stay here while Cale is risking his life for me!/

He thought, then closed his eyes and called his armor. His body started to glow a bright emerald green as the armor answered his call and formed around him, giving him strenght. 

His body stopped glowing finally and when he opened his eyes he was wearing the armor of Halo. Smiling to himself, Sage pushed down his facemask, wanting to surprise his lover and ran toward the place where he could now feel the energy of his friends.

Somehow he noticed that he could now also feel the warm energy of his love, and it made him feel safer.

****

Ryo gritted his teeth together as he jumped out of the way of the powerful attack of the warlord in front of him, knowing they were in deep trouble.

Ever since the fight had began they hadn't managed to hit him a single time. With their team down by one member, they weren't at their best and as such, not able to stand against Anubis. 

What was even worse was the fact that in the meantime, the other 2 warlords, Dais and Sekhmet, had show up to back up their leader and it was even harder not to get killed now.

/Great, just great! All we need right now is for Cale to show up and the party will be complete!/

He thought sarcastically, praying to every deities he ever heard of for this nightmare to end. Just then, his nightmare became reality.

"Anubis…"

Ryo's eyes widen upon hearing that low growl, and almost reluctantly raised his head toward the person responsible for it.

_/Cale!/_

Ryo watched in horror as Anubis smirked at Cale, feeling dread growing in his chest.

"Well Cale it was time you turn up, there is almost nothing left for you my friend."

Anubis said with a nasty grin and Ryo's blood turn to ice.

"That's it, this time we are dead."

He heard Cye whispered behind him, and he couldn't help but share the feeling. They were indeed ready for the worst, but not for what happened next.

Cale, instead of joining his comrades and fight with them, pointed his sword at Anubis with a murderous light in his eyes and snarled. 

"It's not with them I will fight, but with you! You fucking bastard! How could you! I swear I will make you pay for hurting him like that! DIE!"

Cale screamed and jumped at Anubis, slashing him on the chest and knocking him off balance, throwing him against a wall. 

Everybody's jaw basically hit the floor.

Ryo's eyes looked as if they were about to fall out of his head, and when he looked over at the warlords he noticed they were no better. Dais looked completely overwhelmed and Sekhmet couldn't seem to pull his jaw shut.

"What the fuck?!"

Rowen finally articulate, voicing what everyone was currently thinking. Cale didn't seem to care and went about attacking Anubis again, not leaving a single pause to the other warrior.

In the meantime the shock worn off on the ronins and the remaining warlords, who started to fight once again when Sekhmet went to attack Cale from behind, jumping with his poisonous katana ready for the kill in his hands.

"Damn traitor! Now I know why you hit me! Die!"

Sekhmet screamed, but just as the warlord of venom was about to strike, Ryo stopped him with a grin and his own katana.

"Not so fast bastard, we are not done yet!"

He yelled, and the battle started once again, Ryo against Sekhmet with the help of Cye, Rowen and Kento against Dais, who strangely wasn't putting his heart into the fight as he had done before.

Soon the battle turned gruesome between Anubis and Cale, and the red haired warlord quickly became desperate. He had forgot, unfortunately for him, that a mad Cale was a force to reckon with.

Trying to save himself, Anubis tried to call his fellow warlords for help.

"Sekhmet! Dais! What the hell are you doing?! Come here and help me!"

"NO! Don't drag me into this Anubis, you draw this upon yourself when you hurt that boy, now deal with it! I won't have anything to do with such things!"

Dais screamed, startling everyone, even the ronins, not used to see the usually calm and withdraw white haired man yelled like that.

Just as he made that decision, Dais stopped fighting altogether and jumped away from the battlefield, leaving the other warriors confused, except for Cale who wasn't paying attention at all, too busy as he was fighting his opponent.

Finally managing to corner Anubis, Cale threw him on his knees with a last slash of his long sword and raising his weapon. He was ready to avenge his love and himself and not hesitating, he impaled Anubis straight through the heart, his eyes never blinking from their icy state.

Anubis let out a horrible scream as he felt the sword piercing his skin and his armor, looking at Cale in shock, their eyes locking. He hadn't thought that his sick games would lead him to that, and the shock was almost too much for him to understand.

"Damn… you Cale…"

He beathed as his body fell on the floor in a pool of blood, lifeless eyes turning glassy as death took his soul away, leaving only the cooling corpse of a hated man behind.

Cale just kept staring at the dead body of his once fellow warrior, feeling cold and empty and satisfied all at once. Now all he wanted was to go back to his love, his soul mate. Nothing else matter.

Deep into his thoughts, he didn't noticed Ryo sneaking up behind him.

****

Sage ran as fast as he could, following his instincts of urgency that were screaming at him. He could feel it, something was going to happen, and soon.

_/I hope it's not about Cale!/_

He thought, starting to run even faster. When he finally arrived on the battlefield he was breathless, but not enough to prevent him from screaming in horror at what he saw was about to happen.

"NO!"

****

Ryo saw (and heard) the end of the battle between the two warlords and saw that Cale was now alone, and unguarded. He watched with satisfaction the mutilated corpse of Anubis before watching Cale again, and made a choice.

_/Now is the time to strike and get rid of another one./_

He thought with a smirk. Silently he sneaked up behind the blue haired warlord, katana ready and when the moment seemed good he jumped, ready to kill the unsuspecting warrior.

But he wasn't expecting yet another shock to stop him.

"NO!"

A shoot and a flash of green was all the warning he gets before he find himself violently throw back, his katana flying harmlessly a few feet away.

When his head finally stopped spinning, he raised his head, angry at having been stop but quickly gasped when he saw who was standing protectively in front of Cale.

"WHAT?! HALO?! How…? And what the fuck do you think you are doing?! And where were you?!"

Ryo said, angry at his friend for stopping him like that, and also very confused. Sage had been hurt and kidnapped right? So why was he helping this warlord?

Looking just past Sage Ryo could see that Cale, who had snapped out of his trance, seemed just as surprised and clueless. He was staring at the blonde clad in green armor in confusion, seemingly not knowing what to do.

"Stop it Ryo. Leave him out of this, he is not bad. Please leave him alone."

"What?"

Ryo whispered, staring at Sage like the blonde had just lost his mind. It was the first time the blonde had broke the rule and called Ryo by his real name in front of the warlords. Behind Ryo, the other ronins and remaining warlords were just as puzzled by this new turn of event.

Cale blinked and spoke the first thing on his mind as he still stared at the warrior in awe. Something felt familiar about him now he was thinking about it, and not because he had fight against him before. But what the hell was it?

"Why? Why are you helping me? I don't even…"

Cale stopped then when he saw the green armored ronin shaking his head at him, smiling under his facemask. 

"Cale no baka, I told you not to leave me! You never listen now do you?"

The green clad ronin said as he kneeled in front of the warlord, shocking everyone as he took off Cale's helmet, and then his own before throwing it on the ground, causing the other ronins to gasp.

But nobody was more surprise than Cale himself.

"Sage?!"

Cale whispered, gazing at his blonde love and clearly not believing what his eyes were seeing. Sage nodded, smiling shyly at the warlord.

"Hai, I wanted to tell you but you left for the battle before I could tell you. You understand now why I wanted to come with you?"

Cale just nodded back, too shocked to do anything else when Sage literally jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly as if he was afraid he was going to disappear. After a few second, Cale started to laugh, laugh of all things and hugged his lover back with a smile.

"I can't believe it. I don't want to think of what we must look like, a ronin and a warlord in love. Can this get anymore drama like?"

"Hell no! I had my share already, thank you very much."

Sage said softly, trying to joke in this otherwise desperate situation. When he let go of his lover, he could see that his friends were watching him as if he had grew two heads. Not that he blame them. 

"Sage? But how… When did that happen?!"

Kento all but shoot, totally confused. Cye was staring with that innocent expression of his, Rowen's face was expressionless and Ryo was flat out furious.

Sekhmet and Dais were shocked. But there was something else now burning inside Dais's mind too, that none of the others noticed.

"I will explain later, but all you need to know right now is that I love this man and that I trust him with my life, so don't attack him unless you want to fight with me too. Now please let's end this fight and go back home, please?"

Sage said in his soft voice, silently begging his friends to understand him. 

Ryo was the first to react, as his anger cooled down a bit.

"Alright Sage, but we will talk about it again later, I promise you that."

He said, and it was enough to settle the matter. Sage sighed in relief.

But unknown to them Sekhmet , body shaking with rage was preparing his revenge. He was not going to stand without fighting after all, he was a warlord!

So it was no wonder when Sekhmet surprised them all by jumping at Sage, katana in hands.

"Damn you!"

Was all the warning he gave as he attacked, and he would have hit his target if Dais hadn't shot him with his own weapon.

Sekhmet took the full strenght of the hit he wasn't expected and fell on the floor, dead before he even touch it, a look of betrayal and hate on his face. Dais was now the only remaining warlord, along with Cale who was staring at him. 

"Dais… why did you do that?"

The blue haired warlord asked, watching as Dais stared at the ground. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could heard Kento and Cye speaking, but he pushed it into the back of his mind.

"I can't believe it, I have enough! No more surprise I said! No more! For God's sake I hope nobody else has a dead body in their closet!"

Dais refused to meet his eyes and put away his weapon.

"I… I'm not sure. But watching you and Sage it… I don't know but you look so happy that I started to wonder… wonder if I could find such happiness too, and if I hadn't choose the wrong path…"

He said, before he turned around and started to walk away. Cale just shook his head and then smiled at Sage when he saw the concerned look on the blonde's face, before calling out to Dais.

"Dais, wait!"

The white haired man stopped and turned around slowly, and saw Cale smiling at him, his hand spread out toward him. Dais stared at Cale for a second, confused.

Then he raised his own hand, almost unbelieving, and took it.

The battle was over.

****

_6 years later…_

Sage sighed contently as his blue haired love hold him, curling up against the taller man like a cat. 

"Huummmmmmmmmmm…"

"Feeling sleepy love?"

Cale asked, chuckling at the blonde who blinked at him, looking adorable.

"A little. I'm just very happy where I am."

Sage murmured in answer, getting back to dozing off in his lover's arms. As he did, he thoughts ran back to the events that happened 6 years ago.

****

_After Dais had saved his life against Sekhmet, Talpa show up and the ronins had to fight him. The fight was surprisingly easy through, for without the armors Talpa had been weakened a lot, and they managed to win without losing anyone._

_Once the dark emperor died his empire crumbled like sand in the wind and the humans get their freedom back at last. They started to rebuilt their life and cities back, and the ronins went back into their own life._

_Nobody knew they had save the human race._

_After getting back to earth the ronins and the two remaining warlords all lived in Mia's mansion for a while, but soon they split us. Tension was driving the groups apart and without the fights the bound the ronins used to share started to weaken as well._

_It all started with Dais. The other couldn't find it in them to trust him after all that had happen, and either didn't talk to him or ignore him when they weren't picking up fights. The only ones descent with the ex warlord were Cale and Sage._

_Finally Dais had had enough and left the mansion one night. Cale and Sage were the only one he said goodbye to._

_After that things just went down the drain. Cale became the next target once Dais left, mainly because Ryo couldn't accept that the blonde had choose him as his lover. The other tolerate him because of Sage but the two lovers weren't stupid._

_Sage decided to leave the house with Cale as well before things get ugly like with Dais._

_Once they left they decide to find themselves a house and to stay away from the rest of the world. Both had given enough of their life and did not care to help in the rebuilding of the human world. They had other things to do._

_Things weren't always good of course and the main problem they had to face was the aftermath of fighting so much. Cale choose to be a hunter as his therapy, hunting animals for food and fur in the forest, trying to control his warrior's instincts this way and succeeded. _

_Sage choose to heal the animals as opposite to his lover, and let the healing power of his armor sooth both the souls of all the creatures near him and his own. _

_The past was to be left behind too, Cale being the killer of his family no longer being an important factor to Sage. Both had agree that they were new persons now, and that who they used to be were dead.  _

_Both had found their peace in themselves and each other. _

_They lived this way for a couple of years until they ran into Dais one day, by pure chance._

_They meet the ex warlord in the forest while hunting, and that's when they learn that the white haired man had found his own peace, having build a new life for himself. After his departure Dais had decided to keep doing what he was best and became a professional assassin._

_He was now working for the new king of the human empire, employed as a bodyguard and human hunter, all in perfect legality. His work kept him in check and sane and he even found his soul mate during one of his mission._

_Indeed Dais had meet a young girl, an assassin like himself, he was suppose to work with for one of his missions and they became friends right away. Soon after they became lover. _

_Cale and Sage couldn't be any happier for their friend and they keep in contact._

As such it was, surprisingly enough, through Dais that they find out what happened to the rest of the ronins a few years later.

_They learned that soon after their departure Mia ended up pregnant and that Ryo basically went insane. He couldn't deal with the aggressive attitude and negative emotions like they did and one day Mia found him growling and attacking everything in sight, just like a wild animal._

_After that he disappeared with his tiger White Blaze, leaving Mia to deal with her situation alone. The poor girl threw herself in her work and went to become a teacher to help the human in rebuilding their civilization._

_Dais didn't know what happened to the child yet._

_Cye and Rowen had left the mansion too and had their own activities. Rowen was a scientist, helping in building back the human world as well while Cye spend his days either painting, swimming or singing._

_His painting of sea life became famous and he became one of the first artists of this new era._

_Kento for his part had went on his way to find his lost family. From what Dais knew he did found them, expect that only his youngest sister was still alive and the poor girl was insane too._

_She wasn't dangerous like Ryo was but she had lost all grip on reality after the horrors she had to go through in the dynasty and couldn't live on her own. Kento had taken her in and decided to take over the restaurant his family used to run before the war. _

_It was now one of the best restaurants in the newly build town._

_Sage and Cale never saw any of the other again apart of Dais._

**"_Such is the story of the people who once were called to change the fate of the world._"**

_Dais told Sage one day._

****

"Yes, such is our story… But if life truly isn't a fairy tale, it isn't a total drama either in the end…"

Sage whispered to himself, earning a strange look from Cale who was playing with his hair.

"Love, what are you talking about?"

The blue haired man asked, a puzzled look on his face. Sage just smiled at him before kissing him deeply.

"Life. Just life."

OWARI

Author's notes: Yeah I know I'm a bitch to the most of the RW cast in this story, now go away and get over with it. And no I won't change the end even if it's weird (I mean, it's not often you can find a dialogue as a conclusion in my stories) and no I won't write another chapter! +_+ This story was a bitch to finish… to thanks again to Katherine from Split Persona, she is the one who help me finding inspiration here…

Shadow -- who is in a really angsty mood.


End file.
